Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa drew 1-1 in dramatic fashion as Tjaron Chery scored an injury time free kick to earn a split of the points at Bloomfield Stadium. The Greens who were without their head coach Barak Bachar after his brother had passed away in the morning got off to a slow start as yellow-and-blue starlet Oscar Gloch made a sensational debut as the 18 year old scored a stunner of a goal from the top of box to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage in the 28th minute.

Maccabi nursed the lead and just when it looked like they would record a victory to keep their titles hopes alive, Tjaron Chery sent a perfect free kick into Daniel Peretz’s goal in the 93rd minute to earn a point a piece.

“We did a great job and we didn’t deserve this, we deserved the win,” a bitterly disappointed Mladen Krstajic said. “We are not Real Madrid who can play 95 minutes at the same rhythm. Haifa had no offense and didn’t have many chances. We had more chances. Gloch made history at 18 years old.”

“It felt good to be on the sidelines and we saw quality soccer and we started the game decently,” assistant coach Guy Tzarfati said. “But when we changed our formation in the send half we began to create chances and scored. Chery has a ton of experience and he is a leader for us who has a lot to offer.”

Oscar Gloch spoke about his debut with Maccabi’s senior squad, “It’s disappointing that we didn’t win but we have to look ahead to the next game. I felt confident and I am fighting for a place in the squad. I wasn’t surprised with the game I played because I believe in my abilities but the difference was that there are more fans in the stands. Who knows how far I can go.”

Tjaron Chery spoke about the game for his point of view, “After being down 1-0 I had a chance to score and I was thinking that I couldn’t let the coach down during this difficult time. We played well in the first 20 minutes but then we let them take control and in they second half we got back to playing the way we know how to. We can’t talk about the championship just yet as there are still 7 games to go.”